Marlon Moraes 'promised' title fight after WSOF 6 victory

While World Series of Fighting crowned its first champion this past Saturday when Steve Carl submitted Josh Burkman in WSOF 6’s main event, the budding organization isn’t done giving out titles yet.

According to WSOF’s top-ranked bantamweight Marlon Moraes, who starched Carson Beebe in just 32 second over the weekend, the promotion will introduce a 135-pound championship next year, and he’s been promised a place in the inaugural title bout.

“[WSOF President] Ray Sefo promised me my next fight for the title, so for me, I’m just waiting,” Moraes told MMAjunkie.com Radio. “Let’s see who they’re going to get for me.”

In the past two years, Moraes (12-4-1) has risen from obscurity to a standing as one of the top bantamweights in the world. The Brazilian has gone 4-0 in his time with WSOF and looked better than ever against Beebe (14-3), especially considering the fact he says he was injured for the recent matchup.

“I started the training camp, and I had both [feet injured],” he said. “I had my hand hurt, and I went through. I started doing only punches, and then I started the punches with wrestling, then I trained the last three weeks and started to do a couple kicks, but the Saturday before the fight, I was still feeling my foot a little bit.”

Despite the discomfort through training camp and in the days leading up to the fight, Moraes kept news of his injuries private and pushed through.

Ultimately he’s happy with the decision because the knockout win was arguably his best performance under the WSOF banner.

“I love to fight, and I can’t say no to a fight,” Moraes said. “I knew that it would feel much better in the fight, and that’s what happened. I was feeling great in the fight, but through the camp, I was a little hurt.”

Even though his last training camp revolved around not aggravating his injury and making it to the fight, Moraes admits he still found ways to improve his skillset, particularly in wrestling, an area where his confidence is booming.

“I have been training with a lot of wrestlers for a long time, and I’ve been ready to fight a wrestler for a long time,” Moraes said. “He’s going to try to get me down, but he’s not going to get me down. I knew he was not going to take me down, bro.”

With three impressive victories under his belt in 2013, Moraes says he will take the rest of the year off to recover and is aiming for a return to the cage in March of next year.

Having already taken out a majority of the WSOF bantamweight division, matchmakers are going to have to search high and low for a stern test for Moraes, but regardless of the opponent, the 25-year-old will be prepared to take the belt.

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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